After more than a century of rumors of mountain lions in Kansas, state wildlife biologists confirmed this week that a live mountain lion has been found in Kansas.
"We have literally dozens and hundreds of mountain lion sightings turned in to us," said Mike Miller, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks spokesman. "Usually the pictures are so blurry, you can't see any detail."
On Oct. 12, a man hunting in northwest WaKeeney in Trego County made not only a discovery, but history, too. The man snapped photos of what this week became the first verified, live mountain lion in Kansas since 1904.
"We don't know the origins of the animal, but we know this is legitimate," Miller said. "Pictures have been verified."
Kansas wildlife officials said the mountain lion was photographed after the animal walked into a pile of corn that was near a tree stand occupied by a deer hunter.
The hunter grabbed his camera and took multiple photos. The mountain lion encounter is believed to have lasted less than a minute.
"They could live here year round. We don't know," Miller said. "But this is the first photograph that we have seen that we can verify and say that is a mountain lion."
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